1995 Colima–Jalisco earthquake

Tectonic setting

This earthquake occurred in the area where the Rivera plate subducts beneath the North American plate. It was the result of the relative movements between the North American plate, the Rivera plate, and the Cocos plate.

Damage

Although the tsunami affected a 200 km stretch of coast, severe damage was confined to areas with shallow shoreline topography. Most of the flooding occurred in the Tenacatita Bay area. Landslides blocked roads between Guadalajara and Manzanillo. In Manzanillo, 18 people died in the collapse of an eight-story hotel.

Characteristics

Earthquake

The earthquake rupture lasted for about a minute and involved a 200 km long break along the plate boundary. The greatest displacement of the fault is about 5 m. A 14 cm subsidence occurred at Manzanillo.

The variations in observed seismic intensity indicate that three asperities were ruptured during this event.

Tsunami

The tsunami had a maximum run-up height of 5.1 m. There were at least two waves recorded. The tsunami was also observed in Ecuador, French Polynesia, Samoan Islands, Australia and Hawaii.

Postseismic moment release

The aftershocks of this earthquake marked a rectangular region of about 170 km by 70 km. Postseismic deformation has been recorded after the main shock. If the postseismic moment release up to about two weeks after the main shock is included, it will be equivalent to 35% of that of the main shock, which will make the additional seismic moment equivalent to that of an 7.7 earthquake.

References

References

1. NGDC. "Comments for this tsunami event".
2. "Significant earthquakes of the World, 1995". United States Geological Survey.
3. (1998). "The macroseismic field generated by the Mw 8.0 Jalisco, Mexico, earthquake of 9 October 1995". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
4. "Características generales del sismo y ubicación de daños".
5. New York Times News Service. (January 23, 2003). "Death toll rising after earthquake in Mexico". [[The Baltimore Sun]].
6. "The Manzanillo Earthquake".
7. (1997). "The October 9, 1995 Colima-Jalisco, Mexico earthquake (M_w8): An aftershock study and a comparison of this earthquake with those of 1932". Geophysical Research Letters.
8. (2002). "Rapid postseismic transients in subduction zones from continuous GPS". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.
9. (December 1, 2008). "EXPO-CAT Earthquake Catalog". United States Geological Survey.
10. ISC. (19 January 2015). "ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009)". [[International Seismological Centre]].
11. (September 4, 2009). "PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog". United States Geological Survey.